


the light begins to fade

by paintedpolarbear



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 13:44:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8982304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedpolarbear/pseuds/paintedpolarbear
Summary: there was no such thing as confidence.





	

There was no such thing as confidence.

 

A bullet could not change its own course, nor a soldier its orders. The weapon was perfect. There was only infallible trajectory. There was only the solid assurance that the mission will succeed.

 

Confidence required _sentience_.

 

The weapon struck where another aimed it. The weapon delivered news of success. The weapon forgot its victims. The weapon neither remembered the past nor cared of the future. There was only the mission.

 

The target must be eliminated.

 

The target stood twenty yards away, unmoving, whispering a stranger’s name like a prayer, _Bucky don’t make me do this please Bucky_ , begging, still alive. The target must be eliminated.

 

Only trajectory.

 

The weapon struck. The target struck back.

 

The target is a stranger. A weapon does not concern itself with recognition, does not need to remember, is not in fact capable of memory.

 

The weapon does not hesitate. The weapon calculates the wind speed and direction, adjusts for altitude and terrain, and fires.

 

The target does not die.

 

Again.

 

The target does not die. The mission will succeed. The target must be eliminated.

 

The target moved, quickly. The target had a mission of its own. The weapon was not required to prevent the target from succeeding. Only: the target must be eliminated.

 

One shot, and the target stumbled. A disabling, but not fatal, wound. An error.

 

One shot. The target nearly fell.

 

One shot. The target fell.

 

Confirm kill. The target must be eliminated.

 

The target had not been killed. The target’s mission had succeeded. The weapon must complete its mission.

 

One sho-

 

A bullet, swatted out of the air and ground into the dirt, would not deliver death. The mission would fail.

 

The target was returning. The target was volunteering to ensure the success of the mission.

 

_Bucky-_

 

Who is Bucky? The target must be eliminated.

 

_Your name is-_

 

If there was a time when weapons were named, it is not now, and the weapon does not have a name. The target must be eliminated.

 

_You are my friend-_

 

The target must be eliminated.

 

_And I’m with you-_

 

The target must be…

 

_Till the end-_

 

The target must be…

 

_Of the line-_

 

Must be…

 

Must be…be….

 

The target….

 

Steve?

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to tumblr on April 23rd, 2014.


End file.
